Is it “Slacktivism” or a New Platform for Justice?

Since the revolution of social media, more and more people are able to express their views about certain societal issues from the comfort of their homes. This has given rise to the concept of “slacktivism”. Just what is it, really?

What is Slacktivism?

This is the term that is used to refer to the new way of activism in where people say that they are supporting a certain cause or are appalled at a recent political cause yet do not do beyond sharing or liking an article or link on their social media website.

At this light, it does sound rather deplorable. However, is that all there is to it? Like everything in social media, it is all just there on the surface and no one really know what happens beyond the likes or the posts. “Back in the day”, as they like to commonly say, if people had a cause, they would be fighting it out in the street. From our point of view, there seems to be a massive disconnect between the naysayers and what the people that they dismiss as slacktivists.

Now commonly thrown around as a derogatory term, this is a title that is given to most people who “like” or “share” articles on their social media platforms. People cannot deny that social media is one of the fastest ways to get news and express opinions. This is something that most of the established people like politicians did not count on. Social media has made it easier to make informed choices and hold our supposed leaders accountable for their words and their actions.

Technology has evolved, so why should it not follow that the way people fight the good fight was to change as well? More and more of today’s youth are indeed quick to jump on issues—why is that a bad thing? If anything else, this should tell everyone that we all need to be more responsible with our actions and words. The information that the younger generations digest must be better. The world is better connected now—digitally, at least—so why is there so much division around?

Slacktivism as they like to call it is only something that is said by those who do not bother to see the aftereffect of every “share”. The more people who are better aware that there is an issue, the better! You never now when the right person in someone’s network or “friend list” is just the right one to turn an issue around!

Also, it is through social media “slacktivists” that more people actually end up showing up for rallies and gatherings. This is an aftereffect that most people do not like connecting to the very people who they dismiss as slacktivists. After all, how could something that is derogatory have a positive impact in the world?

This is another form of hypocrisy that must be torn down. When you see another cause being shared on a social media platform, it would be wise to not dismiss it.